Annie Palmer

Annie Palmer
EastEnders character
Portrayed by	Nadia Sawalha
Introduced by	Jane Harris
Duration	1997–99
First appearance	5 May 1997
Last appearance	10 June 1999
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Date of birth	27 November 1968
Occupation	Business manager
Family Father George Palmer

Annie Palmer is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nadia Sawalha. Annie was portrayed as a hard-nosed businesswoman, who wasn't averse to dabbling on the wrong side of the law (a trait that she picked up from her shady father). She liked to think she was the top-dog, but she was given a rude awakening when she crossed the wrong people, which nearly cost her her life.

Storylines

When Annie arrived in Albert Square in 1997, she was believed to be a former business associate of George Palmer (Paul Moriarty). Together they opened a print shop called "By The Letter" to cover their illegal deals, but Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) caught them hugging. Grant's mother Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) was dating George, so Grant told her what he had seen; when Peggy confronted George, he told her that Annie was his daughter. Annie took over George's nightclub, The Cobra Club, renamed it The Market Cellar, and used it to facilitate her money-laundering operations and illegal gambling).

Like her father, Annie was well-connected in the business world; the Palmer name also carried serious clout in the underworld. Annie soon built herself a small business empire in Albert Square. She got most of the local council on side and she was instrumental in helping Ian Beale run for a council seat. She owned a healthy portion of the Walford Health Club with Grant and started a loan-shark business with his brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), not to mention her continuous dealing in money-laundering scams.

Annie was shrewd and smart and completely averse to showing any emotion, which came from a desperate need to prove that she could cut it in this male-dominated business. She wanted to show her father that she could do her job as good as, if not better than, any man. But Annie's tough exterior masked a hidden vulnerability, so she rarely allowed men to get close to her. She had flings with Conor Flaherty (Seán Gleeson) (her loan-shark 'heavy') and Phil at the same time and relished watching them compete against each other for her affections. She later became close to her childhood friend Gianni di Marco (Marc Bannerman), but when they looked likely to embark on a serious relationship, Annie's father dropped the bombshell that Gianni might be his son. It was revealed that George had had an affair with Gianni's mother Rosa (Louise Jameson) behind Rosa's husband's back, and Gianni's paternity was unknown. The realisation that he could have been having an incestuous relationship with Annie devastated Gianni, and he cut all ties with both George and Annie. Blood tests later confirmed that George wasn't Gianni's father, which devastated him as he had always longed for a son who would inherit the family business. Seeing her father's devastation, Annie showed some rare emotion and told him she'd always sensed his desperation for a son and that was why she'd always strived so hard to prove her worth. Unable to deal with Annie's emotion, George left England in 1998, leaving Annie to run their businesses on her own.

Annie later became involved with fellow businessman Steve Owen (Martin Kemp); the two were locked in a cat-and-mouse game of one-upmanship. with each other. He managed to get through her prickly defences, even managing to sell him her club, which he renamed The E20. Annie's loan-shark business hit a setback in 1999, when she dabbled on the turf of a rival business gang. Refusing to cede after receiving threats, she was beaten nearly to death by the gang's heavies. Although she showed a brave front, her confidence was severely undermined and she turned to Steve for support and comfort, but he rejected her, leaving her humiliated. To get back at him, she sold her health-club shares to Grant instead of him, but it was a hollow victory and in June 1999 she left Walford forever. She currently lives with her father in New Zealand, where his import/export business is based.

Development

This section requires expansion.

Sawalha spoke in a interview with Larry Jaffee about how she got the role of Annie saying that she auditioned with many other actresses. She got through to the screen test with Victoria Gould who played Polly Becker. Sawalha has said that the only two they screen-tested were her and Victoria Gould: "We were always going to get the job. They hadn’t decided which way they were going to go (who was going to be Annie and who Polly). They always have a vague idea of they want, and then they build the character around the person they choose. I was pleased when they turned it around."^[1] She also said she enjoyed playing "such a devilsome lady".^[1]

Sawalha originally believed she may not be right for EastEnders saying,“My father is Arabic and my mother English. I just thought that I was too exotic — that there wasn’t enough call for a foreigner.”^[1]

In September 1998 it was revealed that Sawalha had quit the role.^[2] Her surprise exit storyline followed an affair with Italian Lothario Gianni di Marco.^[2]

Reception

Author Kate Lock described her as "a rather terrifying creation, a kind of dominatrix without the dungeon. A verbal Miss Whiplash, she tore strips off anyone who crosses her."^[3] The BBC described her as a ' tough-nut business woman'.^[4] She was also described as 'tough' and 'steel'.^[5] She was voted by What's on TV as the 85 sexiest soap sirens of all time out of 100.^[5] When Nadia announced her decision to leave it was described by The Mirror 'as a real shock' and that 'Her character, scheming Annie Palmer, has proved one of the most watchable in recent years.'^[2]

References